The Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS) on Friday submitted to the State Election Commission candidacies for three representatives of the Serb ethnic minority that will run Constituency no.12.

SDSS vice president Milorad Pupovac said he did not fear the competition, namely the fact that the Democratic Alliance of Serbs and the Nasa Stranka party also counted on the three Serb minority seats in parliament.

He also said the party did not fear another Raskovic case.

Mirko Raskovic, who was an elected member of Parliament from the Independent Democratic Serb Party, left the party shortly after the election. Pupovac then said he expected Raskovic to return to the SDSS the parliamentary seat he won as a candidate on the SDSS slate in the 8 November 2015 parliamentary election.

We've always had opponents, sometimes more, sometimes less, but the SDSS is the strongest Serb party in Croatia and this will be confirmed at the coming parliamentary election, Popovac said.

He said he did not fear losing votes to the SDS, formed by former SDSS members.

Beirut (dpa) - Syrian government forces and their allies advanced deeper into the shrinking rebel-held enclave in eastern Aleppo on Wednesday, seizing the Old City, while demanding the armed opposition groups leave the area.